Joel Balsam is a travel journalist and editor whose work has appeared in TIME, National Geographic Travel, The Guardian, BBC Travel, American Airlines, Travel + Leisure and more. He is the Lonely Planet guidebook author for Armenia, Morocco and France.
The most popular destination is Satan’s Bridge at the bottom of the gorge where legend has it that a bridge magically appeared to save villagers fleeing a rebel army. It’ll take about an hour to get here from Tatev and it’s easy to find right next to the main road.
Another option is to leave from the Tatev Monastery and hike six to seven hours (13.5km) through the gorge to the forgotten village of Old Harjis, which is filled with ruins and grass-covered homes. Along the way, you’ll cross oak and hornbeam forests, the new town of Harjis and a lake that you can swim in. Keep an eye out for wild lizards, bears, wolves, foxes, porcupines and snakes.
Other popular hikes from Tatev include the village of Tanzatap, which takes an hour, the 17th century Mets Anapad church (two and a half hour) and to the village of Ltsen (five to six hours).
Multi-day treks are less common around Tatev, but you can easily do multiple day trips while basing yourself from Halidzor where there are a few excellent B&Bs and a station for the world’s longest nonstop reversible ropeway, the Wings of Tatev Aerial Tramway. Alternatively, the hilltop village of Tatev has several humble B&Bs and a helpful info centre and cafe with ample hiking information.
At a glance
Destinations
Armenia
Physical Level
Moderate
Duration
1 day
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